Based on true stories of workers under siege, The Boss, tells the story of Lauren Johnson, a miserable but clear-eyed employee struggling under a self-serving, insensitive boss who undermines her at every turn. Amusing and wry, the story progresses as Lauren is forced to upwardly manage one inept leader after another: the brownnoser, the backstabber, the micromanager, the passive aggressive, and the idea stealer. Lauren just wants to get her job done, but every manager seems to throw up one more needless hurdle. Forced into a final decision, Lauren must fight back or have her spirit crushed.

Offices are not our natural habitat. Leadership is easier when we understand the nine instincts that still drive human behaviour. With the Industrial Revolution only 250 years ago, we left our hunting, gathering and village societies to work in offices and factories. The behaviour that ensured our ancestors' survival on the savannah plains of Africa over the millennia is alive and well in today's workplaces. The nine instincts explain the reasons, and the solutions, to the challenges that leaders commonly face. Based on the author's wide experience in large organisations combined with witty true stories of chimps from Gombe, Tanzania and Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Hardwired Humans explains the psychology behind the human instincts of social behaviour. As you read this entertaining book, you will learn how the instincts of clan connections, hierarchy, gossip, politics, snap judgments, status displays and sexual competition continue to drive modern office interactions just as they have driven human interaction for millennia. The book shares a practical framework that helps makes sense of human behaviour and allows leaders to manage more effectively. In a note introducing the book, Dr Jane Goodall calls it a 'compelling book'. The Australian Financial Review Boss magazine highly recommends the book as one 'that will captivate anyone who finds the "people stuff" confounding.'